Score One for Sanity

From today's New York Times, a report on a town in Montana that decided to say no to religious quackery being taught in science class:

For years, opponents of evolutionary theory have been pressing their case, with similar arguments, in statehouses and school systems around the country. What was unusual was the response.

Within days, a group of parents, business people, teachers, students and other residents mobilized to defend Darwin against Mr. Brickley's challenge. The group, Ravalli County Citizens for Science, phoned a biotechnology firm in nearby Hamilton asking for help and was connected with Dr. Jay Evans, a research immunologist. He began looking into Mr. Brickley's claims, which were drawn in part from materials from the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based organization affiliated with many conservative causes.

Refuting Mr. Brickley's claims, Dr. Evans said, "took me one afternoon." As soon as he had the information, it went to the rest of the citizens' committee, and from there to the wider community.

And remember, this is in Montana, not exactly a hotbed of revolutionary fervor.

Without trying to sound too optimistic, things like this could be a sign that the general public has had enough of tired old conservative rhetoric. The right-wing has held executive power at the federal level for over thirty years (that's right, I count Clinton in--check his record, which was more conservative than NIXON'S), they've held legislative power for ten (minus a couple of years in the Senate), and what have they accomplished? They've managed to increase the national debt to unprecendented levels--with very little to show for it--they've presided over the decay of our cities and our schools, they've managed to thoroughly screw up our Middle East policy...about the ONLY thing they can show is a tremendous concentration of wealth into the hands of an elite...

No, I think it's time to point out that conservatism as a political philosophy is a failure. They've had their chance, and they screwed it up.